Product Review
Monoprice.com: Entry-Level Cables that Everyone Can Afford
January, 2007
by Sandy Bird
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Introduction
Well let me start with the fact I believe that cables make a difference in the performance of your A/V system. Good cables let you experience the full potential of the system, and bad cables will make the best systems look and sound like rubbish.
As important as good cables
are, price and style have almost nothing to do with what makes a good
cable. There are some very bad cables that cost a lot of money and there
are some very good cables that can be had for a bargain, but the
opposite is also true. Some very expensive cables are top quality and
have connectors on them that make superior mechanical connections to
devices. To make a long story short, good cables are about technology and
not marketing or price.
Recently, I moved from the world of analog video, to digital video,
basically going from a CRT-based projector with RGBHV inputs (think old
school analog), to a newer DLP unit with HDMI (think latest digital
technology) inputs.
As you might expect, I
purchased this new projector online and of course forgot to purchase
cables with the unit. This forced the required trip to the classic brick
and mortar stores such as Best Buy, Circuit City, and others, to purchase
some new cables on a whim.
After this visit, I became disappointed with the state of purchasing
cables for the average consumer. The least expensive HDMI cable Best Buy
sells is 3 feet long and costs $49.00, but this cable was not in stock
during my visit. The cheapest in stock cable was $99.00, but it was 6'
long to its credit. This was a surprise to me. I asked the sales person
where the inexpensive cables were, and he explained that these were the
cheap cables. He then attempted to up-sell the benefits of the $200+
Monster HDMI cables.
The sales person truly
believed the Monster cables gave a better picture. I tried to explain to
him that with a digital signal, cables simply work, or if not, they have
very visible errors in the displayed image (like sparkles or green
spots). I could describe the endless humorous details of this
experience, but in the end I left without a cable and found some advice
from a few trusted friends on the industry.
A number of people pointed towards an online retailer called
Monoprice.com. Their claim is that their cables deliver top notch quality
for bargain basement prices. Looking at the site, I figured I was buying
some cables that would resemble the quality of the cables you receive
free in the box with a new $59 DVD player. Even though I was worried
about the build quality, I went ahead and ordered some samples knowing I
wouldn't be out a lot of money even if the cables were junk.
The package arrived as a standard oversized envelope that was quite
heavy for only having four cables in it. Opening the package revealed
several cables in individually sealed plastic bags. A very wise A/V
industry member (and I can't remember who it was anymore) once said, "If
your cables come in packaging any fancier than blister pack, you paid
too much for them." These cables certainly passed that test, no fancy
packing material here.
Looking at the Monoprice's selection of HDMI and DVI cables, it becomes
obvious that the
longer the cable, the heavier gauge wire the cables need to be made
from. This make senses as resistance of a wire is proportional to the
length (longer cable = more resistance) and inversely proportional to
the diameter of the wire (thicker wire = less resistance).
Monocable.com basically balances these two variables to make sure the cables are certified to perform to the HDMI standards and pass signals up to 1080p. If you are looking for short cables (less than 15'), you can get cables as low as 28 gauge and as cheap as $5 for 3' and as much as $8 for the 15' version.
Looking at the longer lengths you will probably end up with 22 or 24 gauge cables which can go up to 100' and cost between $14 (3' - 24 gauge) and $131 (100' - 22 gauge).
You also get a couple of different options in terms of the outside of the cable. If you are like me and need to run 35' of HDMI cable through a wall and ceiling you will want to go with one of the CL2 rated cables for in-wall installation.
If you are looking for some prettier cables to
connect components that are closer together you might want to get one of
the cables with the net jacket applied (something we see on many cables
that come in packaging fancier than blister pack). All you really need
to know is that the cables get heavier and stiffer with increasing
length, and that is another reason to use the short extension cable I
mentioned above.
Monoprice.com makes a few other products that might interest the new
converted digital video cable purchaser, such as DVI-to-HDMI adapters
(photo shown at right) that can be had for about $5. That's way less than the price elsewhere.
If you read our site often, you probably already know a few of our writers, including our master and chief, John Johnson, are not very impressed with the HDMI physical connection (HMDI.ORG is making some changes, to appear soon).
The main reason for this is that the connector has no way of attaching it except for friction, so it comes loose from time to time and can be bent. Connections like BNC, DVI, and others all have a way of locking the connector to the jack.
The second issue is that the HDMI jack does not seem to hold up after a lot of use (in a reviewer's world, these get a lot of use). In this case you might end up having to send your display in for servicing if you manage to loosen the fit of the HDMI plug and jack. You don't hear complaints like this about DVI or BNC, because they are locking connectors.
Monoprice.com sells a short HDMI extension cable which can be used to
connect the HDMI plug to the display device. You plug the extension
cable into the display, and tape the short extension to the side or top
of the display chassis.
Then you plug or unplug your regular HDMI cable into the short extender.
Whatever stress occurs, will happen on the extension cable, not the
jack in the display.
Performance
In all my tests, these cables performed flawlessly. I started with
standard signals such as sending 720p and 1080i signals from my HD-PVR to
my projector. I also wanted to test the cables more thoroughly, so I
connected my PC to a 1080p LCD panel using the 35' HDMI cable, sending a
1920x1080 signal at 60 Hz. Again no issues with the cable.
Conclusions
Monoprice.com delivers everything you could want in a cable: first rate
performance at bargain prices. They even sell specialized versions for
in-wall installations, or with pretty outside jackets to impress your friends.
They also have all the adapters you could need (HDMI->DVI, etc.) and innovative
connectors like the extension mentioned above.
I cannot give a higher
approval rating.
- Sandy Bird -